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Exeter Chiefs vs Newcastle Falcons: Match preview with Rob Baxter

Rob Baxter admits that his Exeter Chiefs side are finding their feet after a start to the Aviva Premiership season blighted by injuries.

With three wins and losing bonus points from their two losses from their first five matches, Exe’s title defence has been steady if unspectacular.

Frustrating defeats at both Gloucester and Leicester Tigers – games which the Chiefs could and probably should have won – have been balanced out with comprehensive wins over London Irish, Worcester Warriors and – most notably – runners-up Wasps.

A sizeable injury list and some of new signings bedding in has disrupted things slightly at Sandy Park, with a lack of accuracy particularly evident during Saturday’s loss at Welford Road.

But ahead of Saturday’s visit of Newcastle Falcons, director of rugby Baxter is confident time will prove to be just the healer his team needs.

“We have had a lot of changes from what you would call a settled side at the end of last season, and that is great in some ways because it has given some players more game time,” Baxter explained.

“But it does also mean that, occasionally, that direction the 15 men are pulling in can sometimes lack that killer direction which rams home a really big performance.

“They are not huge issues for us but they are productive things we can work with – that is how we are looking at it.

“I think once the group gets more minutes and game time together will help.

“It is not so much about injuries, although not having them does help in terms of keeping people fresh and getting fully-fit bodies out on the field.

“It is more about getting those players involved in games and we are doing that.

“We’ve only lost two games so far and have picked up two losing bonus points from that, so we are not having a bad season, but I think the longer the season goes on for, the better we will get.”

Against the Tigers on Saturday, Exeter enjoyed plenty of possession and territory, not to mention plenty of entries in the home side’s 22.

Yet a catalogue of dropped passes combined with an abrasive performance in defence and an enterprising one in attack saw the home side win it.

“It was a little bit of frustrating – that is very much how the players are viewing it,” Baxter continued. “When you look at the stats – we had over 60 per cent possession, over 60 per cent territory, 12 entries into the opposition 22 compared to three from them – you start to look back and wonder how you didn’t win the game, but we did err a little bit on the ball and we made some mistakes and gave it up pretty softly.

“It was a little bit like the Gloucester game where we always felt we had enough to potentially win it but we didn’t quite make it happen.”

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Exe face an intriguing challenge against Dean Richards’ side on Saturday, with the Falcons second in the table and after a fourth consecutive away win – something they have not achieved since being crowned champions in 1997-98.

To combat that threat, Exe should have Sam Simmonds and Nic White back in the mix. Simmonds missed the Leicester game as a precaution after a bang to the head against Wasps, while White was rested.

Jack Nowell remains touch and go as he recovers from a dead leg sustained on an England camp, although Thomas Waldrom and James Short are both now back in full training.